Asian Paints makes consumers experience ideal homes

The paints company launched a concept store in Mumbai to let the consumers experience not just the colours, but the entire home décor

'Har Ghar Kuchh Kehta Hai' is what Asian Paints has been telling its consumers for quite some time. Now, the company has gone a step ahead and launched a concept store, called Colour with Asian Paints. The store is unique in that it does not sell any paints, but works on consumers' aspirations for an ideal home, seeking to engage them in a holistic experience.

Amit Syngle, vice-president, sales and marketing, Asian Paints, speaks to afaqs!, "The store is more about inspiring our consumers, who are seeking ideas on how to indulge with not just paints, but also the entire experience of home décor. The entire point of this store is to fuel this desire of our target group."

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Located at Hill Road in Bandra West, Mumbai, the company claims the 7,500 sq ft store is the first of its kind in the country. Visitors to the store will be treated to sights of what good home décor, coupled with a good colour scheme can do, thus inspiring people.

"The store, while integrating paints with home décor, will also reaffirm our position as the ultimate home décor and colour experts. The store propagates what the brand stands for -- it is turning out to be a good brand building exercise," adds Syngle.

The entrance of the store is highlighted with hundreds of lights suspended in an arch, inviting guests to choose a colour from a series of pedestals. Motion sensors hidden within each pedestal send a pulse of the selected colour up through the archway lights and across the façade, creating constant colour shifts throughout the whole store-front.

The first section of the store is full of interactive features, which seek to educate visitors on how the right colour, coupled with the right kind of lighting, can transform and affect space. The store then takes the visitors through different styles of room sets (modern styling, traditional Indian, and so on) and lets consumers experience how they can achieve the same look, with the right interiors and colours.

For kids, the store offers a space, Kid's World, where they can play with their own set of colours.

There are several such features through which the company is seeking to engage their consumers. Additionally, at the end of the store journey, there are colour consultants who will answer consumers' queries. The store also houses Asian Paints Home Solutions, which will further guide the consumers in executing their plans.

Asian Paints has not tied up with any home décor company for designing the different room sets, but provides consumers with information on where the accessories have been assembled from. As for promoting the store, the company has dabbled in some outdoor advertising, but, according to Syngle, is depending more on the word of mouth publicity.

"The footfall in the store is quite good, with 80 people on an average visiting the store. On weekends, it goes up to 100 consumers visiting the store," informs Syngle.

The company is waiting to see how the store picks up, before replicating the concept in other cities; however, a few well-performing parts of the store, such as the Colour Chef Area, have already been duplicated in some of the exclusive stores of Asian Paints.

The store has been designed by the Singapore studio of international design agency, Fitch.